mar, 31st - conversations with a two year old....

day 785:

Limi: 'I have a baby in my tummy.'
Me: 'What's your baby called'
Limi: [without hesitation] 'Thunderhooves' 

I'm 23 weeks today with a thunderhooves :) we're pretty excited.

mar, 28th - new ways of seeing....

day 782:

i bought these new frames on my travels. they're made of black stained wood (no name). i don't wear glasses all the time...there're for driving, movies, exhibitions.....but i aspire to be one of those French or New York girls with their lovely, messy topknots and black frames, carrying some books and wearing thick, leather, strappy sandals and slouchy pants.....i'll have to keep practising.

mar, 27th - conversations with a two year old....

day 781:

Limi dancing.....

'Mama, my hips are singing.'

mar, 26th - pretty stamps....

day 780:

i found these beautiful stamps in Hong Kong. they're called the Margaret Stamp Collection and i think they're by a Japanese company called Kodomo. it's a complete cliché but i love stamps, stationery and ribbons. i couldn't wait to get home, unpack my bags, haul out some blank sheets of paper and give these stamps a try. Cavallini & Co are usually my go-to people for stamps (and Limi loves their flashcards) but these vintage Margaret Collection 'sewing' ones have something special about them. especially teamed with some Japanese sepia ink that i discovered in the same shop......

just another reason to hopefully give Japan a proper visit one day........

mar, 25th - weekend ritual....

day 779:

my mum is visiting and we made it back to this place today. Limi had her weekend ritual of babycinno and weekend toast (a croissant). she's a big fan.

the breakfast was a good as last week......i did warn you. and walking back through the streets, we were showered with spring blossom petals.....could this sunny weather be here to stay?

i hope your weekend was just as lovely. x

[this look is purely, 'why do you still have that camera in my face?']

mar, 23rd - clever fish....

day 777:

"Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid"
-  Albert Einstein

how fantastic is this quote that i recently came across. in fact, it made me appreciate just what a brilliant word Genius is because its meaning and use is not limited to conventional intelligence but spans creativity, talent, intellect.....you could be a genius in almost everything.....

the fact that we all have something Genius is something that i believe in. the conventional school system doesn't always help everyone to discover their true 'Genius' and instead can make them feel like they are not clever or talented. although i absolutely loved school, i am even more conscious now that i am considering Limi's future, that her Genius may lie in something beyond the conventional system and beyond what A. and i are interested in. what if she has immense talent in rock-climbing or archeology or mud wrestling but never gets exposed to these things. tapping into an individual's Genius may happen via school and what you are experience along the way but i also think its part of the parents' responsibility and in many cases you have to put your own aspirations and wishes aside and really consider your child as an individual.....i mean mud-wrestling wouldn't really be my first choice but she's certainly showing some talent in the sand-pit.......

anyway, if I ever open a school, this will be my school motto (just in Latin of course :) 

mar, 20th - those cupcakes....

day 774:

tahdah.

i'm pretty proud of how these cupcakes turned out.....my sister whipped up a batch of cupcakes (she has these whipping-up skills) and we practised our new techniques based on what we learnt on this afternoon course, using a wilton icing recipe.

we mixed our own colours and both fell in love with the grey......so, what's the verdict? cool or seaweed?

i'm going to keep practising and hope that i can become an expert by the time Limi can remember her childhood cupcakes.....it's surprisingly relaxing.

mar, 19th - the weekend, part II....

day 773:

on my mother's day wishlist was a relaxed brunch and an afternoon sleep......i scored brilliantly on both.....,with a bonus Kitchenaid thrown in. yay....my new cupcake-baking obsession can proceed with vigour. and the best part was Limi saying: 'happy mama day' from Friday until Monday.

for brunch on Sunday, Limi and A. took me to The Hampshire Hog. it's fairly new to our area. we've tried it once before and were really impressed by the whole shebang: service, space, food, attitude......but after Sunday, i can say with conviction, that it's one of our new favourite brunch places. the type of place that you want to invite all your friends to and go every Sunday until you know the staff by name......

there's a takeaway section to come and grab coffees, fresh bread and croissants and then the sun-filled dining-rooms. 

for A. the highlight is finding somewhere that does decent blueberry pancakes....

the perfect place. roll on Sunday, so that we can go again.......

and in case you think that all we did was eat all week....not quite true, we also did some exercise.....Limi and A. went on a pony ride.......

hope your weekend was also lovely and happy mother's day to all the mums out there.

x

mar, 18th - the weekend, part I....

day 772:

our weekend was a fairly lazy one.......rain, followed by a beautiful, sunlit Sunday morning and then, once we had left the house dressed for Spring....more rain and plenty of shivering by A and i. we even sported matching swaddle-blanket scarves for a bit.....

what the weather lacked in warmth, we found in two places that we tried over the weekend. friendly, relaxed service used to be something of a rarity in London but these two places prove that London has moved on alot since the early Noughties.

on Saturday, after wandering around Notting Hill, we decided to try the Portobello version of Pizza East (there's also one in Shoreditch). we walked out of the drizzle outside and into the rough, warehouse style downstairs, filled with a buzzy, happy crowd and in the background blazing pizza ovens. 

i'm always a little self conscious about descending on a restaurant with a toddler and a big, space-sucking buggy but the staff here are fantastic. everyone was warm, welcoming, ready to chat and even help Limi with her requests for her own knife (a new obsession), her own small glass, her own babycinno (notice a theme?) ....and the food.....amazing wood fired treats. it completely sated my current craving for mac 'n cheese and A.'s constant craving for pizza.....we tried the veal meatball, sage and cream pizza and a fresh, basil rich margherita for Limi....both delicious.

with so many wonderful places in London, the test of a good restaurant is whether you're willing to travel to revisit somewhere. we'll definitely make the effort to come back to Pizza East.